Pubdate: Sun, 03 Feb 2013
Source: Richmond Register (KY)
Copyright: 2013 Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.richmondregister.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4305
Author: Bill Robinson, Register Editor
Page: A1

COMER CALLS HEMP COMMERCIALLY VIABLE PRODUCT FOR FARMERS

Hemp, perhaps Kentucky's biggest cash crop in the 19th century, could 
be commercially viable for the state's farmers in the 21th century. 
Agriculture Commissioner James Comer visited the Madison County 
Courthouse to meet with local 4- H and FFA members and encourage 
local residents to make a voluntary $ 10 donation when they renew 
their farm license plates.

That's the opinion of state Agriculture Commissioner James Comer who 
visited Richmond on Friday morning during a swing through central 
Kentucky to promote sales of the license plates that generate funds 
for the Kentucky Proud, 4- H and FFA programs.

He mingled and posed for pictures with local 4- H and FFA members at 
the Madison County Courthouse and conferred with County Clerk Kenny 
Barger, whose office sells the license plates.

Unlike most other Kentucky license plates, those that promote the 
agriculture programs renew only in the month of March, Comer said. 
That's why he is traveling the state this month urging motorists to 
voluntarily donate $ 10 to the ag programs when they renew them.

The money is split evenly between the three programs, he said.

"FFA and 4- H helped make me the person I am today," said Comer, a 
former state president of Kentucky FFA. "They taught me valuable life 
lessons while enabling me to make friends from all over the 
commonwealth. The voluntary $ 10 donations will help 4H and FFA 
continue their good work for Kentucky's youth. They also will help 
the Kentucky Department of Agriculture maintain the Kentucky Proud 
farm marketing program."

Although that was the purpose of his visit, Comer was prepared to 
answer a journalist's questions about his support for legalizing the 
growing of hemp.

Legalizing hemp was once supported mainly by those who also advocated 
for legalizing the crop's close relative, marijuana. In recent years, 
however, the growing of what is sometimes called industrial hemp has 
gained the support of such mainstream organizations as the Kentucky 
Chamber of Commerce and the political establishment, including U. S. 
Sen. Rand Paul, R- Kentucky, as well as Comer, a Republican, and U. 
S. Rep. John Yarmuth, D- Third District.

Already, one Kentucky firm, Caudill Seed of Louisville, manufactures 
soap from hemp seeds grown in Canada, Comer said. Toyota Motor 
Manufacturing in Georgetown also is interested in using a plastic 
made from hemp stems as it already does in Europe, the agriculture 
commissioner said.

However, both the state and federal governments would first have to 
lift their bans on growing the leafy, fibrous plant. A state 
historical marker on Lancaster Road indicates that hemp was grown 
legally in Madison County during World War II when Manila fibers from 
the Philippines were unavailable and synthetic fibers were in their infancy.

Under Comer's proposal, growing or buying hemp would require a state license.

"I would not license a farmer to grow hemp unless there was a buyer 
already licensed who had agreed to purchase it," the agriculture 
commissioner said.

Licensing also would allow law enforcement to keep track of growers, he said.

Even if growers of illegal marijuana secretly planted their product 
in a legal farmer's field, Comer said, Mother Nature would thwart them.

Hemp and marijuana are subsets of the same species, according to 
Comer, and if they grow near each other, their blooms will cross 
pollinate, reducing levels of the chemical known as THC in mature 
marijuana. The decreased potency of the cross-pollinated plants would 
render them useless to recreational users and traffickers, he said.

That has been the case in Canada, where hemp is grown legally and its 
fibers and seeds are imported to the United States.

Despite the increasing mainstream support for growing industrial 
hemp, the Kentucky State Police remain opposed to its legalization.

KSP Commissioner Rodney Brewer said last week the growing of hemp 
would frustrate his agency's efforts to eradicate the plant's illegal cousin.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom